Twenty-seven of Australia’s top cinematographers last night launched a social media campaign aimed at boosting the number of women employed in camera teams and, more broadly, encouraging greater diversity across the screen industry.
Using the hashtag #whoisinyourcrew, the six-week campaign is designed to reach all heads of department as well as directors and producers.
The initiative was conceived by Dop Bonnie Elliott on behalf of the Australian Cinematographers Society’s Diversity Committee, the reconfigured Acs Women’s Advisory Panel.
Appointed to Screen Australia’s Gender Matters task force this year, Elliott has led the way by maintaining gender equity across her own camera teams for the last four years.
“I am keen to empower my fellow cinematographers to help make change in the industry through their hiring practices,” says Elliott, whose recent credits include Stateless, The Furnace, Palm Beach, The Hunting, H is for Happiness and Daina Reid’s upcoming Run Rabbit Run.
Using the hashtag #whoisinyourcrew, the six-week campaign is designed to reach all heads of department as well as directors and producers.
The initiative was conceived by Dop Bonnie Elliott on behalf of the Australian Cinematographers Society’s Diversity Committee, the reconfigured Acs Women’s Advisory Panel.
Appointed to Screen Australia’s Gender Matters task force this year, Elliott has led the way by maintaining gender equity across her own camera teams for the last four years.
“I am keen to empower my fellow cinematographers to help make change in the industry through their hiring practices,” says Elliott, whose recent credits include Stateless, The Furnace, Palm Beach, The Hunting, H is for Happiness and Daina Reid’s upcoming Run Rabbit Run.
- 7/27/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Pat Fiske.
After 45 years as a documentary filmmaker, Pat Fiske has some simple advice for aspiring practitioners: “Have many strings to your bow if you want to survive.”
The Us-born Fiske credits her multiple roles as a director, writer, producer, sound recordist and stills photographer for helping to sustain her career.
All that, plus she served as a documentary consultant at Sbs Independent and was co-head of the documentary department at Aftrs with Mitzi Goldman from 2002 to 2008.
The documentarian will be feted by her peers at an event hosted by the Australian Documentary Forum (OzDox) at the Aftrs Theatre on Wednesday November 13.
OzDox initiated the annual celebration with posthumous salutes to cinematographer Tony Wilson and filmmaker Dennis O’Rourke, followed by the very much alive Martha Ansara and Curtis Levy.
Speakers on the night will include Documentary Australia Foundation CEO Goldman, who says: “Pat is a legend – she’s supported so many,...
After 45 years as a documentary filmmaker, Pat Fiske has some simple advice for aspiring practitioners: “Have many strings to your bow if you want to survive.”
The Us-born Fiske credits her multiple roles as a director, writer, producer, sound recordist and stills photographer for helping to sustain her career.
All that, plus she served as a documentary consultant at Sbs Independent and was co-head of the documentary department at Aftrs with Mitzi Goldman from 2002 to 2008.
The documentarian will be feted by her peers at an event hosted by the Australian Documentary Forum (OzDox) at the Aftrs Theatre on Wednesday November 13.
OzDox initiated the annual celebration with posthumous salutes to cinematographer Tony Wilson and filmmaker Dennis O’Rourke, followed by the very much alive Martha Ansara and Curtis Levy.
Speakers on the night will include Documentary Australia Foundation CEO Goldman, who says: “Pat is a legend – she’s supported so many,...
- 10/30/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Tania Lambert shoots a Toyota Tvc.
If speaks to cinematographers Anna Howard, Tania Lambert, Katie Milwright, Mandy Walker, Bonnie Elliott, Emma Paine, Velinda Wardell, Sky Davies and Ashley Barron about rising up the ranks, the gender gap and the DPs that inspire them.
No woman has ever won the Oscar for best cinematography. In fact, no woman has ever been nominated. In Australia, Abs statistics to 2011 put the percentage of female directors of photography at around 6 percent. Were you aware of the gender divide at the beginning of your career?
Lambert: I was keenly aware of the gender imbalance in the camera department when I first started as a camera assistant. It didn.t bother me a huge deal, but I felt I had to work extra hard to be respected in that role. There were only a few female camera assistants I knew of and one female Dop, Anna Howard,...
If speaks to cinematographers Anna Howard, Tania Lambert, Katie Milwright, Mandy Walker, Bonnie Elliott, Emma Paine, Velinda Wardell, Sky Davies and Ashley Barron about rising up the ranks, the gender gap and the DPs that inspire them.
No woman has ever won the Oscar for best cinematography. In fact, no woman has ever been nominated. In Australia, Abs statistics to 2011 put the percentage of female directors of photography at around 6 percent. Were you aware of the gender divide at the beginning of your career?
Lambert: I was keenly aware of the gender imbalance in the camera department when I first started as a camera assistant. It didn.t bother me a huge deal, but I felt I had to work extra hard to be respected in that role. There were only a few female camera assistants I knew of and one female Dop, Anna Howard,...
- 9/15/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
The challenges of making observational documentaries in Australia can be so daunting that some filmmakers may be afraid of tackling that genre.
That.s the rationale for an upcoming session of Ozdox which is designed to help and encourage people to work in that format.
Ozdox is inviting pitches which will be workshopped in front of an expert panel on September 16 at Aftrs. The aim is to evaluate up to five projects.
The session will be introduced by Tom Zubrycki (The Diplomat, Molly & Mobarak, The Hungry Tide), who will give advice on such topics as choosing a viable subject, following an unfolding narrative, using many .characters' vs telling one person.s story, the use of narration and music, evolving a personal style and the crucial role of editors.
.Ob-docs are becoming a lost art, and the special challenges they present are not fully understood or appreciated,. filmmaker Martha Ansara says...
That.s the rationale for an upcoming session of Ozdox which is designed to help and encourage people to work in that format.
Ozdox is inviting pitches which will be workshopped in front of an expert panel on September 16 at Aftrs. The aim is to evaluate up to five projects.
The session will be introduced by Tom Zubrycki (The Diplomat, Molly & Mobarak, The Hungry Tide), who will give advice on such topics as choosing a viable subject, following an unfolding narrative, using many .characters' vs telling one person.s story, the use of narration and music, evolving a personal style and the crucial role of editors.
.Ob-docs are becoming a lost art, and the special challenges they present are not fully understood or appreciated,. filmmaker Martha Ansara says...
- 7/21/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Veteran producer-director Martha Ansara warns that deregulating the system of approving visas for foreign actors and crews would endanger Australian cultural content.
.The risk is that such a move would be a step towards the creation of a homogenized international product that offers us little in terms of our own culture and, being generic, must compete with the much better financed American product of the same type,. Ansara contends in her submission to the government.s review of Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa (Subclass 420).
.This would not be useful even to those who in the pursuit of the dollar seem not to believe that there is a distinct Australian culture worth maintaining..
Ansara supports the retention of the requirement for the Arts Minister to approve certificates for foreign actors and crew. .The value of the certification is that it is license which guarantees for all to see that the appropriate procedures...
.The risk is that such a move would be a step towards the creation of a homogenized international product that offers us little in terms of our own culture and, being generic, must compete with the much better financed American product of the same type,. Ansara contends in her submission to the government.s review of Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa (Subclass 420).
.This would not be useful even to those who in the pursuit of the dollar seem not to believe that there is a distinct Australian culture worth maintaining..
Ansara supports the retention of the requirement for the Arts Minister to approve certificates for foreign actors and crew. .The value of the certification is that it is license which guarantees for all to see that the appropriate procedures...
- 3/1/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The ABC.s rebuff of a campaign led by the producers to allocate an earlier timeslot to Sophia Turkiewicz.s documentary Once My Mother has drawn the ire of filmmaker Martha Ansara.
A founding member of the Australian Documentary Forum (Ozdox) and a recipient of the AFI's Byron Kennedy Award, Ansara has described the decision as being in line with the broadcaster.s move away from innovative single documentaries.
The ABC will screen Turkiewicz.s 72 minute film, which traces her search to discover why her Polish mother abandoned her and the truth behind her wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, on Sunday October 26 at 10.20 pm. Producer Rod Freedman beseeched ABC head of programming Brendan Dahill to schedule the doco at 9.30 pm or earlier, fearing it would be ignored in the .graveyard. timeslot, and he enlisted the support of industry colleagues.
Dahill replied, .I am happy with the slot that we...
A founding member of the Australian Documentary Forum (Ozdox) and a recipient of the AFI's Byron Kennedy Award, Ansara has described the decision as being in line with the broadcaster.s move away from innovative single documentaries.
The ABC will screen Turkiewicz.s 72 minute film, which traces her search to discover why her Polish mother abandoned her and the truth behind her wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, on Sunday October 26 at 10.20 pm. Producer Rod Freedman beseeched ABC head of programming Brendan Dahill to schedule the doco at 9.30 pm or earlier, fearing it would be ignored in the .graveyard. timeslot, and he enlisted the support of industry colleagues.
Dahill replied, .I am happy with the slot that we...
- 10/7/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The instigator of a petition calling on the National Film and Sound Archive to be more transparent in the restructure of the Archive and the resulting job losses is disappointed with the response from Nfsa chair Gabrielle Trainor.
Former Melbourne Film Festival director Geoff Gardner says there is little in the letter he got from Trainor to suggest the issues raised in the petition are being addressed.
Signed by 140 directors, producers, writers, actors, academics and journalists, the petition called on the Nfsa to release a business review carried out by CEO Michael Loebenstein and to hold a series of open forums before final decisions are made on terminations and personnel restructures.
The signatories include Acs president Ron Johanson, Adg president Ray Argall, producers Tony Buckley, Richard Brennan and Sue Milliken, actor Jack Thompson, former Nfsa development manager Dominic Case, writer Frank Moorhouse, documentary makers Bob Connolly, Sharon Connolly, David Bradbury,...
Former Melbourne Film Festival director Geoff Gardner says there is little in the letter he got from Trainor to suggest the issues raised in the petition are being addressed.
Signed by 140 directors, producers, writers, actors, academics and journalists, the petition called on the Nfsa to release a business review carried out by CEO Michael Loebenstein and to hold a series of open forums before final decisions are made on terminations and personnel restructures.
The signatories include Acs president Ron Johanson, Adg president Ray Argall, producers Tony Buckley, Richard Brennan and Sue Milliken, actor Jack Thompson, former Nfsa development manager Dominic Case, writer Frank Moorhouse, documentary makers Bob Connolly, Sharon Connolly, David Bradbury,...
- 5/21/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The instigator of a petition calling on the National Film and Sound Archive to be more transparent in the restructure of the Archive and the resulting job losses is disappointed with the response from Nfsa chair Gabrielle Trainor.
Former Melbourne Film Festival director Geoff Gardner says there is little in the letter he got from Trainor to suggest the issues raised in the petition are being addressed.
Signed by 140 directors, producers, writers, actors, academics and journalists, the petition called on the Nfsa to release a business review carried out by CEO Michael Loebenstein and to hold a series of open forums before final decisions are made on terminations, sackings and personnel restructures.
The signatories include Acs president Ron Johanson, Adg president Ray Argall, producers Tony Buckley, Richard Brennan and Sue Milliken, actor Jack Thomson, former Nfsa development manager Dominic Case, writer Frank Moorhouse, documentary makers Bob Connolly, Sharon Connolly, David Bradbury,...
Former Melbourne Film Festival director Geoff Gardner says there is little in the letter he got from Trainor to suggest the issues raised in the petition are being addressed.
Signed by 140 directors, producers, writers, actors, academics and journalists, the petition called on the Nfsa to release a business review carried out by CEO Michael Loebenstein and to hold a series of open forums before final decisions are made on terminations, sackings and personnel restructures.
The signatories include Acs president Ron Johanson, Adg president Ray Argall, producers Tony Buckley, Richard Brennan and Sue Milliken, actor Jack Thomson, former Nfsa development manager Dominic Case, writer Frank Moorhouse, documentary makers Bob Connolly, Sharon Connolly, David Bradbury,...
- 5/21/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The National Film and Sound Archive and the Australian Film Television and Radio School have not escaped unscathed from the federal Budget cuts.
Meanwhile, the lack of transparency in a pending restructure of the Nfsa has been criticised by producers, directors, writers, actors, academics and journalists.
The Nfsa received $27.07 million from the government in the current financial year. That falls to $25.9 million for each of the next two fiscal years. The allocations beyond that are $25.74 million and $26.01 million.
It is not clear how the government.s announcement that $2.4 million will be saved over four years by consolidating the back office functions of a number of Canberra-based collection agencies including the Nfsa, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia and Old Parliament House will affect the Archive.
In April, Nfsa CEO Michael Loebenstein announced a restructuring entailing shedding jobs and reducing its touring program and the number of events at its Arc cinema in Canberra,...
Meanwhile, the lack of transparency in a pending restructure of the Nfsa has been criticised by producers, directors, writers, actors, academics and journalists.
The Nfsa received $27.07 million from the government in the current financial year. That falls to $25.9 million for each of the next two fiscal years. The allocations beyond that are $25.74 million and $26.01 million.
It is not clear how the government.s announcement that $2.4 million will be saved over four years by consolidating the back office functions of a number of Canberra-based collection agencies including the Nfsa, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia and Old Parliament House will affect the Archive.
In April, Nfsa CEO Michael Loebenstein announced a restructuring entailing shedding jobs and reducing its touring program and the number of events at its Arc cinema in Canberra,...
- 5/14/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
When Randall Wood commissioned the music for his most recent documentary, he asked composer Brett Alpin to create a score that would suit a James Bond adventure. A 007-type theme was a highly unusual choice considering the subject: the quest by some of the world.s top earthworm scientists to find rare species. Wood will show his docu, The Worm Hunters, and explain his unconventional approach to filmmaking at the next session of the Australian Documentary Forum at Aftrs on August 14. Produced by Gulliver Media and financed by National Geographic and the European networks Zdf and Arte, the film won prizes at numerous festivals including Wildscreen, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, St Petersburg Science Film Festival in Russia, Greenscreen in Germany and the Us.s International Wildlife Film Festival. Ozdox. Martha Ansara says Wood.s work .challenges the conventional, .respectable. notions of documentary form,. with animated graphics, fast cutting,...
- 8/2/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
The great Australian documentary filmmaker Dennis O'Rourke has died at 67. His often controversial documentaries on the human condition include "Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age" (1985) "Cannibal Tours" (1988) and "The Good Woman of Bangkok" (1991) and "Cunnamulla" (2000), see trailers below. Many of his films, often dealing with decolonization, were shown on the international festival circuit, including the Sundance Film Festival. Pat Fiske, a fellow Australian documentarian, posted on her Facebook page a brief obit written by Stefan Moore, Martha Ansara, Ruth Cullen and Tracey Spring: The friends and colleagues of Dennis O’Rourke are deeply saddened by the death of one of the greatest documentary makers of his generation. Dennis died of cancer on June 15 in his home in Cairns surrounded by his partner Tracey Spring and his five children, Bill, Davy, Celia, Xavier and Sophie. His unique cinematic style defied...
- 6/18/2013
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Australian Cinematographers Society (Acs) held an industry event last week to celebrate the launch of its book The Shadowcatchers.
The event, held at Balmain Town Hall, included a discussion featuring Oscar-winning filmmaker and cartoonist Bruce Petty, filmmaker and Shadowcatchers author Martha Ansara, and documentarian Curtis Levy.
Levy said many of Australia's top cinematographers, such as Dean Semler, Don McAlpine and Geoff Burton (who was also in the audience), started their careers in the news department of the ABC..
"I think that's got something to do with why so many of the top Australian cinematographers are so sought after in Hollywood because they're able to work in available light and work quickly and have a physicality that came from that ability to move the subject and not worry too much about having big crews and lights."
Australia has produced a number of Oscar-winning cinematographers including Semler, John Seale (who is...
The event, held at Balmain Town Hall, included a discussion featuring Oscar-winning filmmaker and cartoonist Bruce Petty, filmmaker and Shadowcatchers author Martha Ansara, and documentarian Curtis Levy.
Levy said many of Australia's top cinematographers, such as Dean Semler, Don McAlpine and Geoff Burton (who was also in the audience), started their careers in the news department of the ABC..
"I think that's got something to do with why so many of the top Australian cinematographers are so sought after in Hollywood because they're able to work in available light and work quickly and have a physicality that came from that ability to move the subject and not worry too much about having big crews and lights."
Australia has produced a number of Oscar-winning cinematographers including Semler, John Seale (who is...
- 7/1/2012
- by Brendan Swift
- IF.com.au
More than 200 people last night saw director Bruce Beresford launch a much-anticipated history of cinematography in Australia, written and compiled by filmmaker Martha Ansara.
The Shadowcatchers; A History of Cinematography in Australia is nearly 300 pages in length and includes nearly 400 photographs of working cinematographers taken on films sets from 1901 to the present day. It includes carefully researched text, biographies of significant Australian cinematographers, and personal anecdotes.
Ansara, Ron Johanson, national president of the Australian Cinematographers Society (Acs) and Calvin Gardiner, chair of the Acs book committee, all spoke at the event, held at the Australian Film, Television & Radio School. Committee members helped on every aspect of the book.s development, writing, picture selection and production.
Many stills photographers, cinematographers, directors, producers, archivists and others also contributed to the massive effort which was published by the Acs and designed by Armedia.
Video messages from Dean Semler and Don McAlpine were shown,...
The Shadowcatchers; A History of Cinematography in Australia is nearly 300 pages in length and includes nearly 400 photographs of working cinematographers taken on films sets from 1901 to the present day. It includes carefully researched text, biographies of significant Australian cinematographers, and personal anecdotes.
Ansara, Ron Johanson, national president of the Australian Cinematographers Society (Acs) and Calvin Gardiner, chair of the Acs book committee, all spoke at the event, held at the Australian Film, Television & Radio School. Committee members helped on every aspect of the book.s development, writing, picture selection and production.
Many stills photographers, cinematographers, directors, producers, archivists and others also contributed to the massive effort which was published by the Acs and designed by Armedia.
Video messages from Dean Semler and Don McAlpine were shown,...
- 6/1/2012
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
Ben Nott was crowned Australian cinematographer of the year for his work on director Stuart Beattie.s local hit Tomorrow When The War Began at the annual national awards of the Australian Cinematographers Society (Acs).
Among the 15 other cinematographers also presented with Golden Tripods at the presentation at Sydney.s Manly Pacific Hotel were Mark Wareham for Cloudstreet in the television drama section, Nick Matthews for The Palace in the section for fictional drama shorts and Brad Dillon for episode 13 of the dramatized documentary series Fatal Attractions.
The other winners were Iain Mackenzie and Aron Leong (commercials), Mark Lamble (wildlife/nature), Campbell Munro (non-fiction television), Peter Barta, Daniel Soekov and Tarryn Southcombe (news and current affairs), Callan Green (music clips), Andrew Deubel (promos), Daniel Graetz (experimental) and Boris Vymenets (student).
Television personality Ray Martin was master of ceremonies at the awards, held at Sydney's Manly Pacific Hotel, and actor Rebecca Gibney was a special guest.
Among the 15 other cinematographers also presented with Golden Tripods at the presentation at Sydney.s Manly Pacific Hotel were Mark Wareham for Cloudstreet in the television drama section, Nick Matthews for The Palace in the section for fictional drama shorts and Brad Dillon for episode 13 of the dramatized documentary series Fatal Attractions.
The other winners were Iain Mackenzie and Aron Leong (commercials), Mark Lamble (wildlife/nature), Campbell Munro (non-fiction television), Peter Barta, Daniel Soekov and Tarryn Southcombe (news and current affairs), Callan Green (music clips), Andrew Deubel (promos), Daniel Graetz (experimental) and Boris Vymenets (student).
Television personality Ray Martin was master of ceremonies at the awards, held at Sydney's Manly Pacific Hotel, and actor Rebecca Gibney was a special guest.
- 5/7/2012
- by Sandy George
- IF.com.au
The Australian Cinematographers Society (Acs) is appealing for information on the deaths of cinematographers which have occurred on the job.
The list will appear in the forthcoming photographic history of Australian cinematography The Shadowcatchers, written by Martha Ansara and scheduled for publication at the end of 2011.
The Shadowcatchers will include biographies of outstanding cinematographers in addition to a general history, anecdotes lifted from oral histories, and a selection of images of DOPs at work. It is an initiative of the Acs Book Committee.
According to Ansara, the majority of deaths she’s identified ocurred as a result of war or helicopter crashes. Currently, the list includes:
Damien Parer • 17 September, 1944 Keith (“Dig”) Milner • 29 November, 1960 Frank Parnell • 10 December, 1966 Colin Ennor • Date needed Gary Cunningham • 16 October, 1975 Brian Peters • 16 October, 1975 Tony Stewart • 16 October, 1975 David Brostoff • Date needed, 1981 Blake Hobart • 7 January, 1982 Gary Hansen • August 7, 1982 Joe Mooney • 24 October, 1983 Neil Davis • 9 September , 1985 Jonathan Daley • 25 September, 1992 Brett Joyce...
The list will appear in the forthcoming photographic history of Australian cinematography The Shadowcatchers, written by Martha Ansara and scheduled for publication at the end of 2011.
The Shadowcatchers will include biographies of outstanding cinematographers in addition to a general history, anecdotes lifted from oral histories, and a selection of images of DOPs at work. It is an initiative of the Acs Book Committee.
According to Ansara, the majority of deaths she’s identified ocurred as a result of war or helicopter crashes. Currently, the list includes:
Damien Parer • 17 September, 1944 Keith (“Dig”) Milner • 29 November, 1960 Frank Parnell • 10 December, 1966 Colin Ennor • Date needed Gary Cunningham • 16 October, 1975 Brian Peters • 16 October, 1975 Tony Stewart • 16 October, 1975 David Brostoff • Date needed, 1981 Blake Hobart • 7 January, 1982 Gary Hansen • August 7, 1982 Joe Mooney • 24 October, 1983 Neil Davis • 9 September , 1985 Jonathan Daley • 25 September, 1992 Brett Joyce...
- 12/5/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
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